Théo Tobiasse was born in Israel in 1927. After crossing Germany (Berlin), Tobiasse arrived in Paris in 1931 where a sad and gray station welcomed him in the early morning. Then follow the dark years of the Nazi Occupation where the family remained hidden for two years. At liberation, Tobiasse dreams only of light, sun and immense sky.
He moved to Nice, then to Saint-Paul-de-Vence where he made the fascinating discovery of the lunar landscape of the plateau of Saint-Barnabé, at the Col de Vence. This will be his first painting. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam gives him a second revelation: Rembrandt's Jewish Bride introduces him to the mystery of matter and color. He then understands everything glazes, juices and chiaroscuro. The first exhibitions of the painter will take place in 1960 at the Salon des peintres du Sud-Est and then in Paris in 1961 at the Galerie du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Recipient of the Mediterranean Painting Award and the Dorothée Gould Award. Large exhibitions are devoted to him in several cities of the world including London, Zurich, Los Angeles and Montreal.
The painter tackles major themes throughout his artistic career. In the first half of the 1960s, Théo Tobiasse tackled figurative subjects such as still lifes, animals and velocipeds. The search for the subject is privileged and not the subject which is a pretext. Inspired by Dubuffet and art brut. - Catherine Faust-Tobiasse,
http://www.tobiasse.fr/peintures/ . It was from 1964 that Théo Tobiasse developed his own iconography based on his childhood memories in Lithuania and his exile in the train. It is at this moment that the major themes appear in his work. A return to Jerusalem in 1970 brings the artist closer to his origins and allows him to create his first stained glass windows and works on the themes of the great Jewish festivals. In the 1980s, Theo Tobiasse immersed himself in American culture and integrated New York as he had done for Paris and Jerusalem previously in his major artistic themes. He moved to the famous Chelsea Hotel in 1984 and then set up his own studio in Manhattan. He shares his time between this workshop and the one in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in France.
Painting, sculpture, carborundum engraving, pastel, drawing, pottery, stained glass are his tools to express the emotions engulfed.
He died on November 3, 2012
Source: Official web site of Théo Tobiasse
